Ginny Weasley and The Chamber of Secrets
by ginny-is-our-queen
Summary: Ginny is one of the most empowering female characters out there. However, she never really gets her moment to shine. That's why I decided to write the Harry Potter story from (Book) Ginny's point of view, starting with book 2. Hope you like it! Feel free to let me know if you have any suggestions or comments regarding the story.
1. A Surprise Guest

Ginerva Weasley sat in her room sulking. She was strategically placed between two very tall, very cushy lumps of clothes, and she was not planning on moving anytime soon. You see, Ginevra, or Ginny as she prefered to be called, had just heard a lengthy boy with messy hair, green eyes, and a very prominent lightning bolt scar that rested on his forehead in her kitchen. He went by the name of Harry Potter. Oh no, Ginny was not about to let herself waltz downstairs in order to embarrass herself in front of one of the most famous people alive. No sir she would not do it, even if it meant staying locked up in her room for the rest of the summer.

Honestly though, she wasn't sure what she was expecting. Her family had been discussing shipping Harry over to their house practically all summer. The youngest of her older brothers had attended his first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry with Harry and the two of them had become quite close. In fact according to Ron, he and Harry managed to get themselves into quite a mess of trouble, trouble that involved you-know-who himself. Ginny shuddered at the thought of one of the most dangerous wizards of all time.

At first Ginny thought Ron was lying about being friends with Harry. It made sense after all. The Weasleys were dirt poor, and not many people liked their family very much. They were one of the 28 remaining wizarding families that still had pure wizard's blood. That is to say, nobody in their family was ever a muggle, or non-magic folk. However, the Weasleys are actually quite interested in muggles. At least Mr. Weasley is, and this was constantly embarrassing Ginny. Because of their families kindness to muggles, certain pureblood families have taken to labeling the Weasleys as blood-traitors. Ginny found this to be quite rude; muggles are not bad people. Nonetheless, rude or not, it was still what her family was known as. So really, it made sense for her to think her brother was making up all the stories about his adventures with Harry, why would a famous wizard such as Harry Potter like a "blood-traitor" like Ron? Not to mention, Harry had not responded to a single letter that Ron had written to him all holiday. This had Ginny convinced Ron was lying; however, her two twin brothers who are two years ahead of Ron in school, insisted on backing him up. For most people, that would be enough information to make them believe that their brother was, in fact, best friends with one of the most famous wizards around. For Ginny however, that was definitely not enough. Fred and George were two identical red headed twins that were always pulling practical jokes, they even promised to send Ginny a toilet seat from Hogwarts when she was feeling down about being too young to attend Hogwarts with the rest of her brothers last year. Ginny wanted to ask her brother Percy if Ron, Fred, and George were telling the truth, but Percy was always locked up in his room sending owls off to some mysterious person. Whenever anyone tried to approach him about this he got all jumpy, and Ginny did not exactly feel like dealing with a jumpy and annoyed Percy. Percy was the Weasley's third born child, and is one year older than Fred and George. He got top marks in school, and was definitely one of her parent's favorites.

All summer Ginny had been so sure that Harry was just another made up tale that her brothers were so frequently telling. It wasn't exactly out of the ordinary that Ginny had been so persistent on believing that Ron, Fred, and George were lying; growing up with six older brothers taught Ginny to hold her own and to never trust anyone completely. So here she was, hiding in her room in a desperate attempt to escape mortal hadn't even bothered to ask how long Harry would be staying. Was he going to be staying until school started? That would be far too much to handle.

Ginny knew she couldn't stay in her room forever, sooner or later she would be called downstairs by her mother to come greet their guest. Ginny's mom was very sweet but, like most moms, terrifying when she needed to be. Just a couple minutes ago Ginny had her her mom screaming at her brothers as they entered the house with Harry, " _Beds empty! No note! Car gone- could've crashed- out of my mind with worry- did you care?- never, as long as I've lived- you wait until your father gets home, we never had trouble like this from Bill or Charlie or Percy-"_

From what Ginny could tell, Ron, Fred, and George sneaked out of the house in the middle of the night, and went to go get Harry. According to Ron, Harry had lived with the most awful muggles his whole life. They treated him like dirt, shut him up in a closet under their stairs, and gave him just barely enough food to manage. _How Terrible!_ Harry should be living the life of luxury! Not too long ago there was a terrible wizarding war. A powerful dark wizard was wreaking havoc throughout both the wizarding world and the muggle world. He was so feared that nobody would even dare to say his name; even now, 12 years after this man's defeat, wizards from everywhere still refer to this dark wizard as You-Know-Who, refusing to call him by his actual name. Nobody was able to stop him, and when he decided to kill someone, there was no chance of survival. Ginny shuddered just thinking about it. Only one person had ever been able to survive this dark wizard's killing curse, and that person was Harry Potter himself. Nobody knows why, and nobody knows how, but to this day Harry Potter is the only known person to have survived any sort of killing curse. After first killing his parents You-Know-Who must have thought that killing one year old Harry would be a piece of cake. However, when You-Know-Who cast this final killing curse on a helpless infant in front of him, the curse backfired. Harry was left with a lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead, and You-Know-Who was defeated at last. Of course Ginny was only a couple months old when this all happened. Everything she knew about this terrible wizarding war and the boy who lived was information her parents had told her.

"Ginny dear!" Mrs. Weasley did the very thing Ginny was most afraid of, she called her downstairs. Ginny had two choices, avoid embarrassing herself in front of Harry and face the wrath of her mom, or go downstairs to face her impending doom. There really was no option here. She hastily tried to fix her flaming red hair as she scampered down the stairs, preparing to meet the boy who lived.

" _I hope he likes me_ ," She thought as she stepped into the kitchen to formally introduce herself to one of the most famous wizards out there.


	2. Turning Red and Flying High

The weeks remaining until Ginny got her Hogwarts letter were a blur of embarrassing moments and shy interactions. Ginny still wasn't used to hosting the most famous house guest the Weasley's had ever experienced. Just that morning Ginny had come downstairs for breakfast to see Harry and Ron already at the table; she had thought she had gotten up early enough to avoid this situation. Ginny was so nervous that she managed to knock a porridge bowl over, shattering the entire thing and making a huge mess. Luckily, nobody said anything about it. She wasn't always the one embarrassing herself though, her family was quite the embarrassing bunch as well.

She went red in the face as she heard her dad, Arthur Weasley, explaining to Harry what he does for a living, "I work in The Department of Magical Law Enforcement at the Ministry of Magic. Specifically in The Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office. Yes, we get quite a lot of work there. One of the most common things we see is people enchanting keys to shrink. You know, ordinary muggle baiting. Quite awful how rude wizards are to muggles considering how fascinating muggles really are, getting by without magic and all…" Ginny was actually quite shocked to see Harry's pleasant reaction towards her father's casual mention of muggles; it was easy to forget that a famous wizard such as Harry had actually grown up in the muggle world.

Arthur continued, "Now Harry, I know that this all seems very fascinating and exciting, enchanting muggle objects and all. And yes, it can be quite hilarious when wizards are just enchanting small objects for the sake of a practical joke, but it is very important that you remember: _never trust anything that doesn't have a brain."_ Mr. Weasley's tone suddenly got very serious. Ginny just rolled her eyes. Her father was constantly pressing her and her six brothers to never trust anything that doesn't have a brain. As if somebody was going to enchant something specifically to hurt a Weasley, _yeah right!_ Nobody cared enough about her family to do anything like that. Mr. Weasley was just paranoid because he lived through the wizarding war. You-Know-Who was dead, wasn't he? Ginny used to be sure of the answer to that. However, when her brother came home telling stories about how he helped Harry defeat You-Know-Who, Ginny began to rethink her sense of security. As much as she wanted to believe that the darkest wizard in the world was gone for good, deep in her mind she knew that if You-Know-Who hadn't died the first time Harry had defeated him, there was a sure chance he hadn't died the second time either. Ginny didn't want to think about that right now, instead, she listened to Harry explain to her father what the exact function of a peculiar item muggles call a "telephone" is.

"You see it's an object that you connect to a power source; this power source is known as electricity. Electricity is responsible for most of the things muggles use to get through their daily lives. A telephone in particular is an object that has one end for for an ear, to hear through, and one end for a mouth, to talk through. Every person's telephone has a different set of numbers assigned to it, and when somebody dials a person's specific set of numbers through numbered buttons on their own phone, that person's phone would make a ringing noise. Once said person picks up their telephone and presses a button that says 'talk', these two people can talk to each other, and the telephone enables them to hear each other's voices." Harry went into great detail to explain as Mr. Weasley listened intently muttering words of encouragement at every chance he got. This whole telephone business all sounded very complicated to Ginny, who prefered sending handwritten letters by owls. Why couldn't muggles just do that, too?

Mrs. Weasley barged in at that very moment, effectively stopping Harry from explaining what the function of a "rubber duck" is, by Mr. Weasley's request, of course. "Letters have just arrived from school," She said as she passed each redheaded child an envelope with their name on it and stuffed to the brim. "Oh Harry dear, yours has come here too. Dumbledore doesn't miss a single thing, does he?"

Ginny excitedly tore open her envelope which was slightly larger than her brothers'. She had been waiting to receive this letter since her eldest brother, Charlie, had received one when he was eleven years old. Along with the usual list of school supplies and books that returning Hogwarts students will receive, first years, such as Ginny, receive a slightly longer list that includes items such as robes, a wand, and a pet if the student so desires. As Ginny scanned over her list of books, she noticed that almost all of her book list was made up of books written by Gilderoy Lockhart himself. Mrs. Weasley was always going on about that man, and Ginny had to admit, he was quite the attractive and accomplished wizard. However, Ginny really only had eyes for Harry. Fred, who was peering over at Harry's 2nd year book list, had noticed Mr. Lockhart's frequent appearance on the book list as well.

"You've been told to get all Lockhart's books, too!" he exclaimed. "The new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher must be a fan - bet it's a witch." Suddenly the room got silent as everybody realized what the presence of extra books on the list would mean for the Weasleys, who had five children that they would need to buy books for.

George voiced what everybody was already thinking, "This lot won't come cheap. Lockhart's books are really expensive." Ginny felt a wave of embarrassment engulf her. She wasn't sure how much Harry knew about the Weasley's financial situation, but she was very sure that Harry's was exactly the opposite.

These thoughts did not seem to bother Mrs. Weasley who was quick to jump in with, "Well we'll manage. I expect we'll be able to pick up a lot of Ginny's things second hand." Ginny's embarrassment grew like a monster inside her, except this time accompanied by guilt. Ginny was the first girl born into the Weasley family in seven generations; there were not going to be any hand-me-downs for her. This meant she would cost her family much more than her brothers had, considering her brothers were able to hand down all of their clothes to one another. She tried her best to keep her eyes focused down towards the table, letting her flaming red hair fall over her face in hopes that nobody would notice her, but Harry did.

"Oh, you'll be starting Hogwarts this year?" He said casually in an attempt to make conversation with Ginny, who had gone out of her way to avoid speaking a single word to him during his entire stay at Hogwarts. Her face turned a deeper shade of scarlet than it had ever been in the 11 years she had been alive. Harry Potter had actually spoken to her; he had actually been interested in her life. Appearing from under her curtain of red hair, she nodded and tried to appear casual by placing her elbow on the table. Unfortunately for Ginny, she placed her elbow right into the butter dish. Fortunately for Ginny, her brother Percy waltzed into the room at that very moment, so nobody had noticed Ginny's buttery disaster. Percy was already wearing his shiny prefect badge on his robes; Ginny began to wonder if he ever took the thing off.

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was divided into four houses that students would be sorted into based on their character traits; each house would be assigned two prefects to watch over the other students and make sure they are all following the rules. Ever since Percy was made a prefect he has been the object of many jokes throughout the Weasley household.

 _Crash!_ Something very large just crashed into the window causing everyone in the room to jump out of their seats, and Ginny had a feeling she knew exactly what it was, Errol. Errol was the Weasley's bird; he looked just a very old, grey feather duster. Everybody in the family hated him, but Ginny thought he was rather sweet. When he wasn't delivering letters, Ginny would go to visit him. She would vent to him about how her brothers were always ridiculing her, give him treats, and just keep him company. There wasn't exactly much else to do around the house considering her brothers deemed her too girly to hang out with them. Ginny was getting ready to go over to the window and retrieve the bird, but Ron had beaten her to it.

"Pathetic bird," he muttered snatching a letter out from under its wing, " At least he's _finally_ gotten Hermione's answer, I wrote to her saying we were going to try to rescue Harry from the Dursleys." Although Ginny had never met Hermione, Ron always described her as the brightest witch he had ever met. He began to read the letter out loud:

"' _Dear Ron, and Harry if you're there,_

 _I hope everything went alright and that Harry is okay and that you didn't do anything illegal to get him out, Ron, because that would get Harry in trouble, too. I've been really worried and if Harry is alright, will you please let me know at once, but perhaps it would be better if you used a different owl, because I think another delivery might finish your one off. I'm very busy with schoolwork of course and we're going to London next Wednesday to buy my new books. Why don't we meet in Diagon Alley?_

 _Let me know what's happening as soon as you can._

 _Love from Hermione.'_ "

"Well, that fits in nicely, we can go and get your things then, too. What are you all up to today?" Mrs. Weasley said, speaking more to the boys than anyone else.

"We were going to go practice some quidditch, if that's alright with you," Fred stated.

"Yeah. We'll make sure we won't fly too high, wouldn't want to harm any of those pesky, curious muggles now would we?" George added with a quick wink in Fred's direction. Ginny knew George was referring to a time 3 years ago when a couple of muggle children had accidentally stumbled upon the twins practicing hitting the bludger at the same time so that they could give it more power. However, the twins accidentally hit one of the children square in the face, knocking him out cold, and scaring the crap out of his friends. Ginny giggled just thinking about it. Mr. Weasley had to pull a lot of strings in the Ministry in order to ensure the twins didn't get in trouble for this little incident.

"All right, all right. Please make sure to be careful. We don't need a repeat of what happened with the bludger," Mrs. Weasley hesitantly agreed.

Ginny knew she wouldn't be allowed to tag along, so she didn't even bother asking. She would have her fun later that night when everyone else was asleep; she was quite sure of it.

That night, Ginny stayed awake until she was sure the laughter from Ron's bedroom had stifled. She slowly crept down the three flights of stairs that separated her bedroom from the Weasley's front door. Swiftly and quietly she crept outside into the darkness, leaving the door open a crack so she could get back inside. With her red hair dancing behind her, she walked straight up to the Weasley's broom cupboard and got to work. Since she didn't have a wand yet, Ginny had no way of controlling magic, and therefor had no easy way of opening the lock. However, Ginny had a few non-magic tricks up her sleeve. She gingerly tugged a small pin out of her flaming red mane. Ginny didn't typically pin her hair back, but nights she sneaked into the broom cupboard were special. Mr. Weasley's fascination for muggles wasn't always as useless as Ginny liked to think. When she was 6 years old, Mr. Weasley described to Ginny just exactly how muggles would open locks without a key. He probably didn't even think Ginny was listening; He probably never dreamed that Ginny was actually the most daring of all his children. But, Ginny was listening very intently, and that night she decided to try the technique out for herself. Ever since that night, Ginny had been breaking into the Weasley's broom closet to have her own go at flying a broomstick.

Swiping one of the twins' Cleansweeps, Ginny mounted the broom and took off. It must have been about midnight and was pitch black outside, but Ginny wasn't scared. Flying made her feel safe. Flying made her feel like an individual, a feeling that was hard to come by in a house of seven children. She soared higher and higher into the sky, quite sure that she wasn't in danger of being seen at this hour. The feeling she got as she soared through though the sky was unlike anything she had ever felt before, pure bliss. She wished she could have this much confidence around Harry, but for now, flying would do.


	3. Never a dull moment

Ginny had trouble falling asleep Tuesday night, and it had nothing to do with the occasional explosion that came from Fred and George's room or the howling ghoul in the attic. The problem was that she was far too excited about her trip into Diagon Alley the following morning. Sure, she had been to Diagon Alley many times before, but this time was different. This time Ginny would be going to purchase her school books, school robes, and, most importantly, her very own wand. She had only been looking forward to going to Hogwarts for practically her entire life. When Ginny did manage to drift into a dull restless sleep, a horrifying scene haunted her:

 _Ginny waltzed into the wandmaker's shop full of confidence. Today was the day she was going to be getting her very own wand. However, as soon as she walked in, the man inside gave her a very confused look._

" _What are YOU doing in here?" He practically shouted, "You don't possess magic, you're just a dirty little squib!" Everyone in her family began to cackle. Her brother Percy was quick to comment,_

" _You always wanted to be noticed, didn't you? In a family of seven children, it can be quite hard to get any sort of attention. Now look at you, you're a squib. You'll be the talk of the century. EVERYONE will notice you now."_

" _No you're wrong!" She shouted, but was unconvinced, "I've been showing signs of magic since the age of four. I got a Hogwarts letter! Please!" Ginny began to cry, which only made her family laugh harder._

Mrs. Weasley burst into Ginny's room Wednesday morning, saving her from the entrapment of her mind. Although it felt as if she had gotten about three hours of sleep, Ginny was glad to be awake and away from her thoughts. After scarfing down at least five bacon sandwiches, Ginny was ready to climb inside her fireplace and head to Diagon Alley. She watched her mom grab the pot full of powder and hesitantly peer inside.

"We're running low, Arthur. We'll have to buy some more today." Her mom had a glaringly obvious concerned tone in her voice; it was no secret that the Weasleys were especially tight when it came to money recently. The room fell as silent as it had the day Hogwarts letters came. Ginny felt a familiar feeling of embarrassment creeping up on her again.

"Ah well, guests first. After you, Harry dear," Mrs. Weasley proclaimed in a desperate attempt to break the tension. Ginny noticed a confused look form on Harry's face. She kept forgetting that he grew up with muggles, and that there was no way he had ever traveled by floo powder before.

"W-what am I supposed to do?" He asked, his face growing whiter by the second.

"He's never traveled by floo powder. Sorry mate, I forgot." Ron was quick to recover from his mistake, but Ginny felt a twinge of annoyance. How inconsiderate of Ron to not think of that.

"Here Harry, watch me. It really isn't all that hard." Said Fred as he stepped inside the Weasley's fireplace. Ginny watched as he threw some of the powder into the fireplace, creating a brilliant emerald green flame. "Diagon Alley!" He shouted, stepping into the fireplace. The family watched Fred twist and shrink within the flames until he was completely gone. Ginny could sense Harry was feeling a lot more confident now after seeing someone do it first. Despite her mother's continuous warnings about the many dangers of traveling by floo powder, Ginny could tell Harry was ready. She didn't even understand her mom's constant worrying over Harry. He had survived You-Know-Who, twice! Ginny was pretty sure he would be able to handle some measly little floo powder. Harry made his way up to the fireplace and grabbed a generous handful of powder. He threw it into the fire and prepared to step in. But, as he took a deep breath, he inhaled a significant amount of hot ash.

"D-Dia-g-gon Alley," He choked as he whirled up the fireplace. The room fell silent for a second time that day. However, the feeling in Ginny's stomach that accompanied this silence was not embarrassment, it was fear.

"Oh dear," Mrs. Weasley groaned, "hopefully he only went one grate too far." Ginny could tell she was trying her hardest to remain confident and collected. Nobody could really be sure where Harry was; however, they had to remember that Fred was still somewhere in Diagon Alley waiting for the rest of the family to show up. Ginny felt a small flicker of hope as she stepped into the fireplace. Maybe Harry had actually ended up in Diagon Alley safely, despite his unclarity.

"Diagon Alley!" She spoke very confidently as she disappeared. The familiar feeling of being sucked down a drain engulfed her, and then, as quickly as it had began, it was over. She climbed out of the fireplace to see a very worried Fred standing in front of her.

"Where's Harry?" He demanded, "Wasn't he supposed to go next?" The hope that was present inside Ginny had now disappeared. Harry had really gotten lost in the floo network.

"He did go before me," she explained with a sigh, "he started coughing as he said 'Diagon Alley', and now we don't know where he is!" The panic in her voice was rising.

"Oh dear, he isn't here, is he?" Mrs. Weasley said as she climbed out of the fireplace. Ginny just nodded solemnly. George was the next one to appear.

"Oh man Harry really isn't here," he exclaimed, more excited than nervous. "The next grate over is Knockturn Alley." Fred instantly caught on, and with a mischievous smile he added,

"We'll go see if we can find him." The twins weren't even halfway out the door when Mrs. Weasley grabbed them by their collars and forced them to stop walking.

"You will do no such thing!" She scolded. Knockturn Alley was infamous for its attribution to the dark arts. Scary people walked around there. As much as Ginny hoped Harry was close by, she didn't want him being all alone in a place like that. Fred and George have been trying to sneak over there since as long as Ginny can remember. Mr. Weasley came next and finally Ron. As soon as Ron stepped out of the fireplace a girl with long frizzy hair and the largest front teeth Ginny had ever seen waltzed over. Ginny could only guess that this was Ron's friend from school, Hermione.

"Ron!" She exclaimed, "I'm so glad to see you!" The pair awkwardly embraced as the girl continued,. "Where's Harry? I thought you said he was with you?"

"Well he was," Ron mumbled as he inched away from his angry friend, "We think he got lost in the floo network."

"The floo network? He could be anywhere!" This girl appeared seriously worried. Ginny made a mental note to keep an eye on her. She clearly cared a lot about Harry.

"Oh, now let's not worry too much just yet; we suspect Harry only went one grate too far." Mrs. Weasley was clearly trying her hardest to appear as calm as humanly possible. The rest of the Weasleys knew very well that she was freaking out inside. Mrs. Weasley's interruption seemed to remind the bushy haired girl that Ron was not the only one in the room. In fact, Ron had an entire family of redheads with him.

"Oh how rude of me, I'm Hermione Granger. It is so very nice to meet you all!" Hermione exclaimed as she shook everyone's hand.

"Blimey!" Said Ron suddenly, "is that Hagrid over there with Harry?" Ginny looked up to see an unbelievably large man stomping through the crowd. He had a very bushy beard with a million crumbs stuck to it, horribly unkempt hair, and standing next to him was Harry Potter. Ginny breathed a sigh of relief as she jealously watched Hermione sprint over to greet them with a giant hug. Fred, George, Percy, Ron, and Mr. Weasley followed suit. Ginny wanted to follow as well, but she didn't want to leave her mom behind who was currently trying to add together how much all of the Weasley's books and robes would cost. Ginny awkwardly waited behind as she watched her mom silently suffer; she knew all of these books would damage the Weasley's financial situation more dramatically than they ever have before.

"Okay, off to gringotts bank first." Ginny's mom tried her hardest to appear confident. She wouldn't want Ginny worrying about things that didn't need to concern her. "Come along Ginny," she commanded as she took off in Harry's direction, pulling Ginny helplessly behind her. Harry was mostly covered in soot, and his glasses were cracked, but he was okay. Ginny breathed a sigh of relief while she watched her father and mother fuss over him. Mrs. Weasley pulled out a brush and began to shake the soot off of him while Mr. Weasley seized Harry's glasses and fixed the crack. The entire group began to climb the steps into Gringotts Bank while Harry recounted the details of his fireplace mishap.

"I saw Mr. Malfoy and Draco in Borgin and Burkes, and they were selling something," Harry exclaimed. Ginny knew Borgin and Burkes was a shop to steer clear of. They sold and bought products related to the dark arts.

"So the Malfoys are worried? I would love to get Lucius Malfoy for something." Mr. Weasley was practically beaming. The Malfoys were a slimey family and the Weasleys knew it. Back when You-Know-Who was still in power, Lucius Malfoy was a death eater. However, when the ministry was arresting You-Know-Who's followers and sending them to prison, Mr. Malfoy claimed that he had been forced to do You-Know-Who's bidding, and he managed to narrowly avoid going to prison. The Weasleys knew he was guilty though, especially Ginny's dad, who worked with Mr. Malfoy at the ministry. Mr. Weasley was about to continue on with his ridiculing of the Malfoy family, but he had spotted Hermione's muggle parents and got distracted.

After drilling the Grangers about the use of muggle money, Mr. Weasley was pulled away by Mrs. Weasley so that he could ride down to their vault with Harry and the rest of the family. Ginny always hated the ride down; it was horribly bumpy, and it made her nauseous. Ginny breathed a sigh of relief when they reached the Weasley's vault. However, as the vault was opened, ginny felt a different kind of twisting in her stomach. Their money situation was far worse than she had expected. All that was left in their vault was a pile of sickles and a single galleon, and she watched her mom empty it all into her purse. Never in her eleven years on earth had Ginny ever witnessed the Weasley's vault empty. The thought terrified her. She watched her mother climb back into the cart with her head held high, pretending that everything was going to be okay. Everything became much more awkward as the crew arrived at Harry's vault. The family remained silent, and Harry tried his hardest to shield the contents of his vault from the Weasley's eyes. However, Ginny still managed to see the piles upon piles of coins inside.

Back at the entrance to Gringotts, everyone decided to split up and meet back at Flourish and Blotts, the bookstore, in an hour. After first stopping to pick up some secondhand robes, Ginny and Mrs. Weasley were off to purchase a wand. Ginny pranced towards Ollivander's wand shop, more nervous than she had ever been in her entire life. She knew she was being ridiculous, but she couldn't shake that nightmare. What if she actually was a squib? Quite the opposite of muggle borns like Hermione, or wizards with two muggle parents, squibs are people born to magic parents who do not possess magic. She was the seventh kid in her family, and she knew that there was probably a good chance at least one of the kids would be a squib. However, everything that had happened in her life served to prove this theory wrong. She had definitely shown signs of magic, and the Hogwarts letter she received should be proof enough. Still, Ginny just couldn't abolish the awful feeling that was causing her stomach to sink.

"Are you ready dear?" Mrs. Weasley seemed more excited than Ginny was, despite how much this wand was going to cost the family.

"Ready as I'll ever be." Ginny grit her teeth and stepped into the shop.

"Oh hello!" Said an old man with strikingly blue eyes, Ginny assumed this was Ollivander himself. "Molly how great it is to see you again, is this the last Weasley I'll have the pleasure of selling a wand?"

"Oh we sure hope so," Mrs. Weasley chuckled at the thought of an eighth child. Ginny shuddered. Her family could barely afford the seven kids that they already had.

"Hello," the man spoke to Ginny now, "I am Ollivander."

"Hi," Ginny managed to squeak, "I'm Ginny, it's very nice to meet you." Ollivander surveyed Ginny for a moment, scanning her every feature.

"It'll be difficult to tell which wand to place you with considering your family members have had a variety of different cores and lengths." He pulled one off the shelf and handed it to Ginny. "Ten and a half inches, unicorn hair, walnut, reasonably flexible." Ginny uncertainly grabbed the wand. It just felt like a normal old stick to her. Shouldn't she be able to tell when the right wand is in her hands? This was definitely not it.

"I could give it a swish if you want, but I really do not feel like this is the wand for me." Ollivander showed no sign of doubt. He simply took the wand from her and placed it back on the shelf.

"Ginny," he started, "why don't _you_ pick one out?"

"Me? How could I possibly do that? How will I know which one is right?" Ginny didn't know the first thing about wands. How was she supposed to pick one out?

"Ginny my dear you have to trust me. You will know. After all, the wand chooses the wizard." With that Ginny hesitantly walked over towards the shelf that was stacked to the ceiling with wands of various types. She scanned up and down, unsure of which direction to go in when suddenly a wand floated off of the shelf, and landed right into her hands.

"Merlin's beard," the blue eyed wand maker was stunned, "I haven't seen that happen in at least a decade. Well go on, give it a swish." Ginny was very confident this was her wand. As she flicked it the whole room lit up, and a dazzling glimmer of light flew out from the tip. "Yes, I am quite sure that is the wand for you. But, a very interesting pick. Something I wouldn't have ever dreamed would belong to a petite girl such as yourself? Dragon's Heartstring. Makes for some of the most powerful wands. 14 inches long. Quite a large size for someone so small. Inflexible and made out of holly. Very, very interesting."

"Don't be too surprised, Ollivander. Size is no measure of power." Ginny knew her mom didn't actually think what she was saying was true, but she appreciated the notion. Mrs. Weasley payed the man, and her and Ginny turned to leave.

"Wait," Ollivander put a hand on Ginny's shoulder and kneeled down so that he was eye level with her, "When a wand as powerful as this one is so intent on choosing the wizard that it presents itself even before the wizard has laid his or her flesh on it, this wizard is special. I haven't seen an instance like this in years. Wands with dragon heartstring cores are powerful, yes, but easily persuaded to turn dark. My dear young lady, I advise you to be careful in this coming year. You are capable of great things. Whether this greatness will be good or bad is ultimately up to you." Ginny froze. Ollivander's eerie warning scared her a little bit. Maybe she didn't want this wand after all. Ginny was actually about to ask the man if she could exchange it for a less dangerous one, but Mrs. Weasley came charging in telling Ginny that they were going to be late. Mrs. Weasley didn't show any indication that she had heard Ollivander's dark warning. In fact, she had been halfway down the street before she noticed Ginny was not with her.

"Yes, yes, thank you very much for the wand. Ginny we must be on our way now, come along." Ginny waved one last uneasy goodbye to Ollivander before she was grabbed by the arm and dragged towards the bookstore. She didn't know how to interpret the warning Ollivander had just presented her with. She wanted to believe that he was just a crazy old man, but he seemed to really know what he was talking about, especially when it came to wands. In the end, she decided that nothing could happen to her at Hogwarts. After all, it's the safest place on Earth, right?

As Ginny was being pulled towards Flourish and Blotts, she noticed a large crowd of people surrounding the store. Certainly this many people couldn't all be wanting books. As she got closer to the bookstore, the crowd became more justified. A large banner was spread across the top of the bookstore reading:

GILDEROY LOCKHART

Will be signing copies of his autobiography

MAGICAL ME

Today 12:30pm to 4:30pm.

Mrs. Weasley somehow managed to squeeze her and Ginny into the bookstore through the crowd of crazy middle aged women. Once inside, they spotted Mr. Weasley and the Grangers chatting about how "bus stops" work. Ginny went over to grab a used copy of _The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1,_ and when she got back to the line, she found her mother frantically fixing her hair. She assumed this was because her mother wanted to look as presentable as possible during Mr. Lockhart's arrival.

"Oh, there you are, good," said Mrs. Weasley as Harry, Ron, and Hermione joined them in line. They were just in time to see Gilderoy make his grand entrance. Mrs. Weasley squealed excitedly. Ginny, personally, thought he looked extremely fake. He was wearing forget-me-not blue robes that matched his eyes almost too well. He was surrounded by pictures of himself that were flashing smiles that were far too white to belong to any normal human being and winking at every chance they got. Ginny just did not see the appeal. A reporter bumped into Ron as he was trying to weave through the crowd in order to get the best picture of Mr. Lockhart.

"Watch it! This is for the Daily Prophet!" He snarled at Ron.

"Big deal!" Ron shouted back, effectively getting the attention of Mr. Lockhart, who did not appreciate Ron's uninterested tone. However, the presence of Harry Potter gave Lockhart another idea. He practically dove into the crowd in order to seize Harry's arm and bring him up next to him at the table. Ginny watched nervously. She knew Harry wouldn't like this much attention on him. Harry took one picture with Lockhart and desperately tried to slip away from him, but to no avail. Ginny watched as Lockhart threw his hand around Harry and prepared to make an announcement,

"Ladies and Gentlemen, what an extraordinary moment this is! The perfect moment for me to make a little announcement I've been sitting on for some time! When young Harry here stepped into Flourish and Blotts today, he only wanted to buy my autobiography- which I will be happy to present to him now, _free of charge-_ He had _no idea_ that he would shortly be getting much, much more than my book, _Magical Me._ He and his schoolmate will, in fact, be getting the real magical me. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I have great pleasure and pride in announcing that this September, I will be taking up the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!" The room filled with applause, but Ginny just rolled her eyes as she watched Harry stagger under the weight of the entire works of Gilderoy Lockhart. He walked straight up to her on plopped all of the books into Ginny's cauldron,

"You have these. I'll buy my own-" He began, but was interrupted.

"Bet you loved that, didn't you, Potter? _Famous_ Harry Potter, can't even go into a _book shop_ without making the front page!" Ginny looked up to see a mean looking blonde kid sneering at Harry. This must be Draco Malfoy, a kid that Ron hated desperately and was always going on about. Being the son of Lucius Malfoy, Ginny spent all summer feeling as if Ron's hatred was justified. This little outburst only intensified Ginny's feelings. Full of newfound confidence due to Harry's generous donation, Ginny felt the need to step in.

"Leave him alone, he didn't want all that!"

"Potter, you've got yourself a _girlfriend!"_ This boy was just nasty. Did he know about Ginny's crush on Harry? He couldn't possibly; he hadn't even met her before. Her face became a deep scarlet color as she tried to sink into the crowd. Ron, Harry, and Malfoy fought back and forth for a bit until Mr. Weasley made his way over.

"Ron! What are you doing? It's to crowded in here, let's go outside." As Mr. Weasley spoke, Ginny watched a tall man with a pale pointed face step up behind Draco. This could only be one person: the infamous Lucius Malfoy that her family hated so much.

"Well, well, well- Arthur Weasley." Mr. Malfoy was clearly looking to start a fight.

"Lucius," Mr. Weasley hissed back with a slight nod.

"Busy time at the ministry, I hear. All those raids… I hope they're paying you overtime?" Malfoy reached his greasy hand into Ginny's cauldron and pulled out a very old copy of _A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration._ "Obviously not," he cackled, "dear me, what's the use of being a disgrace to the name of wizard if they don't even pay you well for it?" Ginny felt a strong sense of anger bubble up inside her. She had a wand now; she could attack him if she wanted too. Nobody insults her family without facing the consequences. Mr. Weasley, however, beat her to the punch.

"We have a very different idea of what disgraces the name of wizards, Malfoy."

"Clearly," Malfoy retorted, his eyes wandering over towards the Grangers standing nearby, "The company you keep… and I thought your family could sink no lower." Mr. Weasley had snapped. Ginny watched in admiration as her dad flung Mr. Malfoy into a nearby bookshelf. _Go Dad!_

"Get em' Dad!" Fred and George encouraged.

"No Arthur, no!" Mrs. Weasley shrieked in horror. The crowd pushed back, trying their hardest to stay away from the fight.

"Gentlemen, gentlemen. Please! Break it up!" A worker desperately yelled as he watched Mr. Weasley and Lucius Malfoy attack each other like a pair of mad men. Nobody seemed to be able to break them up. Until Hagrid came along. He was so large as it was, that separating the two fighting men was as easy for him as picking a flower. Ginny noticed that her father had a large cut on his lip, and Mr. Malfoy, who was still holding Ginny's book, had been hit in the eye. He walked right up to her and shoved her book back into her cauldron.

"Here girl- take your book- it's the best your father can give you." Ginny didn't care. She was just proud that her father had just beaten up Lucius Malfoy. She smiled as the Malfoys turned around and left the store, grumbling about filthy muggle lovers. They had gotten exactly what they deserved.

The Weasleys all turned to leave the store. They wanted to get as far away from there as possible. The worker seemed to want to stop them from leaving, but Ginny reckoned that Hagrid's abnormally large stature scared him off. Everyone seemed to be pretty happy that Malfoy finally got a taste of what he deserved. Everyone except for Mrs. Weasley.

"A _fine_ example to set for your children… _brawling_ in public… _what_ Gilderoy Lockhart must have thought-" Fred jumped in almost immediately.

"He was pleased. Didn't you hear him as we were leaving? He was asking that bloke from the Daily Prophet if he'd be able to work the fight into his report- said it was all publicity." Ginny couldn't help but chuckle at that. She wasn't sure what regular Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers were like, but she knew that Lockhart did not fit the criteria. This was going to be an interesting first year at Hogwarts. She kept these warm thoughts of what her life at Hogwarts was going to be like close in her mind.

" _Only two weeks left,"_ She thought as she whirled through the floo network and stepped back into her welcoming home. The wait was going to be a difficult one.


	4. An unexpected friend

When Ginny arrived home from the eventful day in Diagon Alley, she rushed up to her room and began sorting through her things in order to get ready for her departure to Hogwarts. She started pouring the contents of her cauldron onto her mostly clean bedroom floor but was forced to stop when an ink bottle broke open, causing a puddle of ink to form in the center of her bedroom.

"Bloody hell!" She swore under her breath, so no one would hear. How in the world was she going to clean this one up? Hesitantly, she walked over in the direction of her new wand. Technically, she didn't know anything about performing magic. But, how hard could it be? She had watched her mother do it a million times. She pulled the wand out of its shiny new box and muttered, "Terego." The puddle shrunk, but only by about a centimeter. This was useless; she would just have to throw a rug over the stain. That could be dealt with later.

Trying to forget about the giant ink puddle in the center of her room, Ginny began organizing her books alphabetically, the first one being _A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration_. But, as she pick the book up, another book fell out of it. There didn't seem to be anything special about this particular book; it didn't have any sort of writing on the cover or anything. When Ginny opened the book, she saw that it must be a diary. The inside of the book had a name written, T.M. Riddle, and a date that told Ginny the diary was about fifty years old.

" _This could be interesting,"_ She thought as she flipped through the diary in order to see what type of person T.M. Riddle was. However, nothing was written anywhere within the diary. "What a waste." She uttered as she threw the diary behind her. However, she had poor enough aim that she managed to throw the diary right into the puddle of ink that remained on her floor. Crap. She kinda actually wanted to use that diary during her first year at Hogwarts. She secretly always wanted one but knew that her parents would never be able to afford it, so she never asked.

Ginny expected the Diary to be soaked in ink, but as she picked it up she realized it was quite the opposite. Not only was the diary completely dry and clean, but the ink puddle that had existed on the floor not less than a couple seconds ago had now completely vanished. It suddenly made sense to Ginny why the diary didn't have anything but a name written in it. The diary was meant to soak up what was written into it. This Riddle person must have enchanted the diary in order to ensure that nobody could read his secrets. Ginny thought she'd give it a try.

" _Dear Diary,"_ she began, and sure enough, her words disappeared. However, before she could even figure out what she wanted to write about, words started appearing on the page.

" _Hello. My name is Tom Riddle, and this diary belongs to me. Who are you?"_

Ginny paused. Did the diary just respond to her? The enchantment put on this diary was much more complex than the type Ginny originally thought it was. Was Tom Riddle trapped inside this diary?

" _I am Ginny Weasley,"_ She responded quickly, without even thinking of the consequences, " _Are you trapped in there? Do you need help?"_ She nervously waited for Tom to respond.

" _No, I am not trapped. I am merely a book full of Tom Riddle's memories from some of his time at Hogwarts."_

Ginny suddenly didn't feel so secure anymore. Her dad's words appeared into her mind.

" _Never trust anything without a brain."_ She looked at the diary for a strong, steady moment. It definitely didn't have any place to keep a brain. But, did that for sure mean she couldn't trust it? Cautiously she responded.

" _So where's the real you?"_

" _I am not sure,"_ The words appeared as quickly as hers had disappeared, " _Possibly dead. Possibly out in the world. All I know about him is from the memories he has put into me."_ Ginny felt more relaxed. Whatever this diary was, it only had, at most a couple years worth of life experience. And, those years it had were from a teenager's point of view. She didn't know of any dark wizards that were kids. Plus, the real Tom Riddle would have to be about sixty years old. If he was a dark wizard, wouldn't she have heard of him? Keeping all this in mind, she deemed Tom Riddle's diary a safe place to confide her thoughts in.

" _That interesting,"_ she scribbled, " _I've never heard of a Tom Riddle, but I'll let you know if the name ever comes up."_

" _Would I still be alive?"_ Came the response, " _what year is it?"_

" _It is 1992. I am about to start my first year at Hogwarts. The Hogwarts Express leaves in two weeks."_ It took at least one to two minutes for the diary to respond this time.

" _Hogwarts, how interesting. I went there."_ Ginny already knew this, but she was excited to see that the diary feels an attachment to its alma mater.

" _Yes you told me that,"_ She began, " _I'm actually feeling slightly nervous about going there. Maybe you can help me understand what it's like?"_

" _Of course,"_ The words appeared on the page even before Ginny's disappeared, " _Just write in me while you are there, and I would be happy to show you the ropes."_ Ginny was excited now; she used to be so nervous about making friends at Hogwarts. She was so scared that nobody would like her because of her family. However, she was beginning to feel all of her fear melt away. Even if she had no friends at Hogwarts, she knew she would be able to count on Tom to listen to her, to understand her, and to help her.

" _Okay,"_ she responded, " _I guess I'll talk to you in a couple weeks then."_ And with that she closed the book. She placed it safely under her pillow. Ginny finally had something that belonged to her only, and she was not going to give it up easily.


	5. A new journey awaits

The two weeks that remained before the trip to Hogwarts were the longest of Ginny's life. She couldn't wait to get away. At least at Hogwarts she wouldn't have as many opportunities to completely and udderly embarrass herself in front of Harry. Of course, she couldn't forget about the diary, her only real friend at the moment. Ginny had been writing in it at every chance she got. So far, she had really only told Tom about her family.

"My mom and dad are great, really, but sometimes they make me insane," She confessed to him after her dad tried to convince her mom that they needed to buy something called a television. Harry kept backing him up, telling the Weasleys that televisions are great for getting muggle news, watching muggle sports, and viewing TV shows, or something that Harry described as books that you can watch. Ginny did have to admit, she was quite fascinated by the idea of books being portrayed by people on a screen. Reading and writing was something that Ginny genuinely loved. This made sense seeing as she was never included in any of her brother's usual schemes, so she had to find something to do with her time. After Ginny told Tom about her father's fascination with muggles, she was sure he was going to deem the Weasleys a family of blood traitors, just like everyone else in the wizarding world had. Instead, he surprised her.

"Parents can be like that at times," the words gracefully danced across the paper, "Just try to remember that you can't choose your family." He slowly got her to open up more and more, and it all started with questions about her family.

"Every single person in my family has horrible bright red hair, and that's saying something because I have six older brothers!" Ginny scratched onto the paper as she pushed her flaming hair behind her ears, "My brother Charlie is the oldest of us all, but I don't get to see him much because he studies dragons in Romania. Next came Bill, but I don't get to see him much either due to the fact that he is in Egypt working at a Gringotts there. As of the brothers that do live at home, I have Percy, Fred, George, and Ron, in that order." Tom was so understanding and helpful. When Ginny complained about her brothers ridiculing her, Tom would know just how to respond. He was the perfect therapist that didn't cost any money, but he was peculiarly curious about Harry Potter.

"There was a really dark wizard, I'm pretty sure he was after your time. He murdered muggles for fun and was terrorizing the entire wizarding world. Anyone that tried to stop him died. He had killed so many people. Except, when he went to go kill Harry, a mere infant, the curse backfired leaving You-Know-Who gone and Harry an orphan with a lightning bolt scar on his forehead," Ginny explained to Tom one day as she confessed why she was so passionate about a boy she barely knew.

"You said 'You-Know-Who', but surely that was not his real name?" Tom replied, "What was this powerful wizard's actual name?" Ginny hesitated. He _was_ gone, wasn't he? What was the harm in writing the name? Obviously _speaking_ his name would have a similar effect as to someone swearing in front of a toddler. But there weren't any toddlers here, and writing the name would mean no one else would have to hear it. And, as an added bonus, if she wrote it in this specific diary, it would disappear in seconds. After pondering the morality of what Tom had just asked her to do, Ginny decided to disclose the information.

"His name was Voldemort, Lord Voldemort." And with that, Ginny decided to put the diary away for a while. It was time to focus on her upcoming adventure to Hogwarts. She was finally going to learn how to be a witch.

Several days passed before Ginny even looked at the Diary again. Her sudden lack of interest in the diary was not only due to the fact that Riddle had shown an unsettling curiosity in the rise and fall of You-Know-Who, but also because Ginny was starting to become busy preparing for her departure to Hogwarts. With the diary hidden safely under her mattress where no one would find in, Ginny began to stuff her trunk with virtually everything she owned. Would she need these knee high fuzzy socks at Hogwarts? Probably. What about that pair of waist high jeans that she loved so much? Definitely. Her trunk was becoming so stuffed that she was forced to ask her dad to place a moderate extension charm on it. He reluctantly agreed,

"Don't tell your mother," he demanded looking at the pile of things on her bedroom floor. "I didn't even know you owned this much stuff."

Once Ginny was sufficiently convinced she had every thing that she could possibly need stuffed into her trunk, she began a restless slumber. Similar to the dreams she had the night before she got her wand, Ginny experienced nightmares full of fear and inferiority.

 _A large wizard's hat was placed on top of Ginny's head. She excitedly waited for it to exclaim what she had been waiting her whole life to hear, but instead it gasped._

" _Another Weasley," it muttered, "except this time a girl. What a pity that I can't put you in Gryffindor. You just aren't brave like the rest of your family. In fact, I don't think you belong here at all." The hat snickered as it spoke, and Ginny could only hope that she was the only one in the room that could hear its mocking words._

" _No!" She muttered out loud, "You have no idea what you're saying. Please don't do this!"_

" _Ah but I have to," The hat explained, "There's been a mistake. Take this one on the next train back home!" Ginny began to cry as a teacher grabbed her by the arm and dragged her out of the school as everyone else in the room began to cackle._

" _Squib!" Someone shouted at her._

" _That's what your family gets for being blood traitors. I knew they would have at least on squib!" The voice of malfoy taunted Ginny as she desperately tried to keep her face hidden._

" _Wow," She heard Harry whisper into Ron's ear, "Your sister is such a loser."_

Ginny jolted awake in her bed, sweat covered her face and the dull sound of cackling haunted her brain.

"It was just a dream," She told herself as she reached for the diary to write about the nightmare she had just experienced. However, before she could grab it, her mother came in to wake her up.

"Ginny, it's time to get up. We have a lot to do before we get on the train." It must have been about 5:00 in the morning, and Ginny was especially slow at getting out of bed. It was not so much that she was nervous about going to Hogwarts, it was that she was going to be sorted today. Hogwarts has four different houses that students will be placed in based off of their personality traits. Gryffindor for bravery, Slytherin for cunning, Ravenclaw for intelligence, and Hufflepuff for kindness. Everyone knew that Slytherin was full of evil, judgemental purebloods, and there was no doubt in Ginny's mind that that was the house Malfoy had been placed in the previous year. Everyone in Ginny's family had been placed in Gryffindor, but Ginny was having doubts about whether or not she would be put in there too. Was she as brave as her brothers? She tried to shake these thoughts out of her head as she groggily headed downstairs.

The house was a nightmare. People were running up and down the stairs trying to get organized for their departure, Mrs. Weasley was in an awful mood as she tried to organize everyone and everything, and Mr. Weasley nearly killed a chicken trying to get Ginny's trunk into the car. The Weasley's Ford Anglia was not like a typical car. Mr. Weasley had bewitched it so it could fly; this was how Ron, Fred, and George had managed to save Harry. Ginny knew that her dad had also bewitched the car so that everything and everyone would fit in it, but her mother had no clue about this, of course.

"Muggles _do_ know more than we give them credit for, don't they?" Mrs. Weasley noted as she saw Harry, Ron, Fred, George, and Percy all sitting comfortably in the back seat. Ginny got into the front seat as her mom continued, "I mean, you'd never know it was this roomy from the outside, would you?" Ginny just rolled her eyes as the car rolled down the driveway. It was goodbye to this place for a while. Or was it? The car skidded to a halt before they even had a chance to leave the property. George had forgotten his box of Filibuster fireworks. Five minutes after that, they were back again. Fred needed his broomstick.

Ginny was getting annoyed. All she wanted to do was get on the train and go to Hogwarts, but it was beginning to look like her brother's carelessness was going to become a roadblock in what was supposed to be an effortless journey. However, thinking of this made her stomach drop.

" _Shoot!"_ She thought, " _The diary. It's still in my room."_ What was she going to do? They were already running extremely late, but Ginny _needed_ that diary. She mustered up as much courage as she could find and spoke up, "Guys," she squeaked, "we need to turn around. I forgot my diary."

"Ginny!" Her mother scolded, "We are running very late, can't I just send it to you in a week?" Ginny could feel her face turning red. She did not want anyone to find out about that diary's secrets.

"No," she proclaimed, "I don't want you to read it. I need to grab it." Embarrassment flooded over her as she felt the car do its third U-turn of the day. By the time they got back onto the road, they were running dangerously late, and tensions were high.

"Molly, Dear-" Ginny's dad pleaded, glancing at his watch.

" _No,_ Arthur-" Came the response.

"No one would see- this little button here is an Invisibility Booster I installed- that'd get us up in the air- then we fly above the clouds. We'd be there in ten minutes and no one would be any the wiser-"

"I said _no,_ Arthur, not in broad daylight-" Ginny was beginning to feel very guilty. She knew that it wasn't entirely her fault that they were running so late, but she was definitely one of the bigger reasons.

They dashed into King's Cross station at exactly quarter to 11:00. They only had fifteen minutes until the train would be leaving. Ginny had never been to Hogwarts before, but she was very familiar with platform nine and three quarters. All a witch or wizard had to do to get on was walk straight into the barrier between platforms nine and ten without any muggles seeing. It was easy enough. Ginny had been doing it practically her whole life, except, this time she would actually be boarding the train.

"Percy first," Mrs. Weasley proclaimed as she glanced nervously at the clock. There were only five minutes left until the train's departure. Ginny watched as her brother swiftly disappeared into the wall. Mr. Weasley, Fred, and George followed. Ginny felt her mom grab her hand as they walked through the barrier together. This was it. There wasn't much time for goodbyes seeing as the train would be leaving in about one minute. Ginny rushed on the train, more nervous than ever. She hadn't even noticed that Harry and Ron never made it through the platform.


	6. A train ride, a friend, and a flying car

As Ginny walked through the train, looking for places to sit, she realized just how little friends she had. Fred and George had their own gang of friends and wouldn't want to be bothered by Ginny, Percy went to go sit in the Prefects cabin, and Harry and Ron were nowhere to be seen. It looked to be that her only option was to sit with Luna Lovegood, an odd girl with an even stranger father who lived near the Weasleys. Ginny was not about to make Luna her new best friend, but it looked as if she had no other choice. However, before she could even take a step in Luna's direction, a girl with large front teeth and bushy hair bumped straight into her.

"Ginny!" Hermione shouted, sounding relieved. "You don't happen to know where your brother and Harry are, do you?"

"I thought they met straight up with you as soon as they got onto the platform." Ginny was confused. If Harry and Ron weren't with Hermione, and they weren't with Ginny, then where were they?

"Well they definitely aren't with me," Hermione said, "But since neither of us can find them, do you want to come grab a compartment with me?" Ginny felt a wave of relief wash over her. She wouldn't have to sit with loony Luna Lovegood after all. She nodded and followed Hermione into one of the only empty compartments left. It was extremely awkward at first. Mostly they just sat there in silence. Ginny was the first one to speak.

"Did you and Ron and Harry actually defeat You-Know-Who last year at Hogwarts!" She sort of blurted it out, but she didn't mean to. It's just that Ginny had never actually heard the whole story, and she was dying to find out the truth from a reliable source.

"Yeah," Hermione said with a giggle, "I guess we sort of did." Hermione continued on to tell Ginny all about that night. She told her about how Hagrid's giant three headed dog was guarding The Sorcerer's Stone. She told her that You-Know-Who was barely alive, and he needed the stone because it could produce an elixir that would make him immortal. She told her about how they put fluffy, Hagrid's monster dog, to sleep using music, and they jumped through the trapdoor which led to a pit full of Devil's Snare. "Your brother was actually really cool under pressure. I was freaking out about how we didn't have any fire, so there was no way we were going to get passed that horrid plant. But then, your brother was all, 'are you a wizard or not?' I honestly wouldn't have realized that I could've used my wand if it wasn't for Ron."

Ginny couldn't help but laugh at this. She kept forgetting how strange the wizarding world was for muggleborns. "What happened next?" Ginny pressed Hermione excitedly.

"Next, we went into a room full of keys and some broomsticks. We had to catch the key that would unlock the door. Ron and I were awful at it, but Harry, Hogwarts' youngest seeker in a century, was exactly the person we needed to get the job done. He got it caught in no time!" Ginny couldn't help but think that she wouldn't have been half bad at that either. After all, she did have a secret knack for flying. But, she didn't interject because the story was getting far too interesting. "After we got past they keys, we entered a room with a giant chess board."

"I bet Ron loved that!" Ginny interrupted, "Chess is the only thing he's good at!"

"Yeah, he did actually. He was fantastic; he won us the game. But, he had to sacrifice himself in order for us to win. Ron was taken down, but Harry and I knew we had to continue. We could only hope that whatever lied ahead would be quick. Past the chessboard was a room of potions and a riddle. There was fire surrounding both the entrance and the exit, but only two potions would be able to get us past the fire. One for the entrance and one for the exit. Harry had to move on alone, and I went back to help Ron."

"You left Harry alone!" Ginny squealed.

"I had to," Hermione defended herself, "There was only enough of the potion left for one person."

"Okay, okay. So I already know that Harry managed to defeat You-Know-Who, obviously, but what happened with you and Ron?"

"He was awake but hurt when I got to him. I helped him get into the key room where we grabbed broomsticks and were able to fly back up through the trapdoor. Man was Mcgonagall mad at us. But at the same time, she was oddly proud. I mean, we had managed to get past obstacles that were made to be hard for You-Know-Who himself." Hermione couldn't help but brag a little.

"McGonagall?" Ginny questioned, "she's the head of Gryffindor house, right?" Ginny knew McGonagall; she was always writing home about Fred and George and the antics that they caused at Hogwarts.

"Yes she is. I'm sure you know her considering how much trouble your brothers manage to get themselves into." Ginny and Hermione started to laugh. It was nice, and Ginny started to feel at ease. This whole making friends thing was a lot easier than it seemed.

Ginny was about to ask Hermione about the sorting when something caught her eye outside the compartment window. "Hermione," she began, "do you see that blue flying car as well, or am I just going crazy?"

"I see it too," Hermione said walking towards the window, "But it can't be."

"Well, we did get to King's Cross dangerously late."

"They aren't that stupid."

"Yes they are. Plus we haven't seen them at all this entire ride. Aren't you like their only friend?"

Ginny and Hermione's worst fears were realized as they watched Ron pull a very terrified Harry back into the car which he had just fallen out off.

"Those boys are so stupid!" Hermione shouted, clearly with no concern for their safety.

"What are we going to do?" Ginny was worried. She didn't want to be the one to tell on Ron and Harry, but they weren't on the train. What if something went wrong, and they never made it to school?

"Nothing of course," Hermione replied coolly as she sat back in her seat. "Those boys get me into enough trouble as it is. Let's let them handle this one. They seem to have it under control." Ginny just shrugged and did the same. "So," Hermione began, steering the subject away from the flying car that Harry and Ron had so clearly stolen, "do you think you'll get sorted into Gryffindor?"

"Oh, I don't know if I'm brave enough." Ginny went white as she remembered the nightmare that she had last night.

"Trust me," Hermione said with a laugh, "you'll get placed into Gryffindor. If Ron is brave enough, you are brave enough."

"I hope so!" Ginny was starting to feel a bit better.

"We should go get changed into our robes," Hermione suggested as she looked out the window. The sun was starting to set; they would be at Hogwarts soon. Ginny took a deep breath as she followed Hermione into the train's bathroom. Ready or not Hogwarts, here she comes.


End file.
